A water supply unit collectively refers to a device installed in an indoor wall or a similar structure. The water supply unit is supplied with water through piping from a water supply source, and then drains water through a faucet or a drain pipe.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a water supply unit typically includes a connecting body 100 that connects a water supply pipe to a faucet for dispensing water. The water supply pipe is connected to one end of the connecting body 100, and the faucet is connected to the other end of the connecting body 100. Such a water supply unit is disclosed in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2010-0063411 entitled “Water Supply Unit Having Stop Function” (Jun. 11, 2010).
The connecting body 100 is typically embedded in the wall. More particularly, the connecting body 100 is installed in a casing 200 embedded in the wall, and the connecting body 100 is maintained in a securely fixed state at the installation position. Thus, the connecting body 100 is securely installed without movement in order to fix and support the faucet 300.
The connecting body 100 is connected to the faucet 300 by a threaded engagement. The faucet 300 has a fastening pipe portion with a screw thread, and the fastening pipe portion is coupled to the connecting body 100 by a threaded engagement.
Here, a sealing member (not shown) needs to be strongly compressed in order to prevent water from leaking from the connection point at which the fastening pipe portion and the connecting body 100 are connected to each other. For this, the faucet should sufficiently be rotated until the fastening pipe portion of the faucet does not move any further. However, when the faucet is completely coupled to the connecting body, the faucet is often stopped at an undesired position upon complete rotation of the faucet. It is very difficult to have the faucet positioned at an exact vertical position when the faucet is completely coupled because there exist many determining factors for this, for example, such as elasticity of the sealing member, and the length and number of turns of the screw thread.
Thus, it is often compromised to have the faucet rotated more or less than necessary so that the faucet stops at the exact vertical position. However, if the faucet is rotated more than the optimal degree, an excessive amount of pressure applies to the sealing member, and this causes damages to the sealing member. In contrast, if the faucet is rotated less than the optimal degree, the sealing member cannot be compressed with appropriate pressure, and this causes water to leak.